Community Blog

Welcome to CommunitySherpa, a new Internet marketing service for the multi-family industry from Network Communications, Inc., the parent company of Apartment Finder.

CommunitySherpa provides a turn key solution to building and managing a social media marketing program for apartment communities, residents and prospects. CommunitySherpa takes the risk and complexity out of social media marketing, creating a new kind of Internet Marketing presence for your property management company. We will improve your visibility on Google, increase your web traffic, enhance your resident retention and turbo-charge your referral programs.

The explosion of social media tools and networks, like Facebook, Twitter and MySpace, create a unique opportunity for apartment communities to get active on the web, by providing interesting content relevant to their residents and getting involved in the fabric of their residents’ lives, creating an active and engaged online community.

Apartment Finder and Network Communications recognize the incredible potential of social media marketing to improve your bottom line.  We also recognize the challenges that social media marketing present.

CommunitySherpa is a monthly subscription service that provides a turn-key solution to create active, engaged and effective virtual networks for your community.

Apartment Finder brings its unique skills in content development and management, as well as its knowledge of social media networks to the creation of CommunitySherpa.

Apartment Finder is social-media certified. Every member of the Apartment Finder team has gone through a detailed month-long training program with Domus Consulting to educate them about the power of social media networks and to give them insight and experience in developing effective and influential networks.

To learn more about this powerful service, please visit the following links:

The CommunitySherpa Customer Experience: What to Expect

CommunitySherpa: What You Get

What does the name CommunitySherpa mean?

12 Keys to Using Social Media to Improve Marketing in the Multi-Family Industry: A White Paper

CommunitySherpa: Getting Started

About Apartment Finder and Network Communications, Inc.

Social Media and the Multi-Family Industry: Some Starting Points

About Social Media Marketing: The CommunitySherpa Perspective

Social media is a hot topic in the multi-family industry today.  We all know that our residents and prospects are avid users of social media, but we still don’t know what it means in terms of real impact to our business.  Is social media a marketing platform?  Does social media marketing connect with our other Internet marketing strategies?

To help frame the discussion and to point to some of the answers, we commissioned a White Paper to examine the impact of social media in our industry.

The author of the paper is Josh Gordon, a noted social media industry expert.  You can learn more about Josh at his web site, Selling2.0, and can see some of his other work at the site Social Media Today.  (Josh recently authored a white paper on the business applications of social media.)

Using proprietary research, Josh identifies 12 key findings about social media in the multi-family industry.  We think you’ll find them interesting and educating.

You can download the paper here:  At the Tipping Point: Social Media in the Multi-Family Industry.

Getting ready to plan your all-American summer road trip or already on it and looking for an attraction to add to the list.

Then, Buffalo Soldiers National Museum in Houston, Texas needs to be included or added onto summer road trip list.

Located in Houston’s Museum District, the exhibit pays tribute to the military service of African-Americans from The Revolutionary War through the Persian Gulf.

Visitors will be given a chance to learn the full history and contributions of African-Americans military service by way of multi-media presentations, photography, collectibles and displays of the hundreds of thousands of African-American men and women who have served our country proudly since the 1800s.

Exhibit hours/Admission:

Monday – Friday: 10:00 am to 5:00 pm

Saturday- 10:00 am to 4:00 pm

$5.00 per person

Carrington Court is just 20 minutes away from the Buffalo Soldiers National Museum.

Did you skip this year’s spring-cleaning and now your home or apartment is in need of a good, thorough cleaning?

Are you tired of looking around your apartment and finding cobwebs, dead bugs, and staring at stains all over your carpet?

Does your fan simply blow the collection of dust on top of it around your place whenever you turn it on?

If so, then White Gloves Kleaning Services has offer for you that you can’t pass up.

Right now, for a limited time, White Gloves Kleaning Services is offering a chance to save up to 50% and give your apartment the TLC it needs.

For $60 you can get your one-bedroom bungalow spick and span. This includes up to five common areas.

From here, the price goes up only $10 for each additional room. That’s right, $70 for a two-bedroom and up to seven common areas, and $80 for a three-bedroom and 8-and-a-half common areas.

Planning a party or need some extra cleaning as a result of a party. Then, upgrade to deluxe for just additional $30 to $40 from one of the above packages.

Hey, it’s your place. Take care of it and it will take care of you. Call 281-997-5463 to schedule your appointment.

Next up in our Spotlight on Sherpa employees…

Kaitlin

Kaitlin was born in Tallahassee Fl, however, she is anything but a typical Florida girl, given that she loathes the sun. She moved to Georgia when she was eight years old and loves Atlanta! It was here that her love for her favorite sport grew when Atlanta finally got an NHL team here while she was in high school. She went to Georgia Southern University where she majored in Art History. After college, she spent sometime in St.Petersburg, Russia, working with orphans. She then moved back up to the Metro Atlanta area where she worked in a bakery. It was here that she discovered her love of baking but her disdain for working every weekend. She heard about a job in a field she already loved – Social Media – and the rest is history. But she’ll still make a wedding cake upon request!

Kaitlin just purchased her first home with her boyfriend Tim in Alpharetta. They have 3 cats, Mr.Kitty, Snow and Ziggy. When she is not working, Kaitlin has season tickets to both the Atlanta Thrashers and Georgia Tech football. She is currently in the middle of starting a beer review blog that should be functional in two weeks. Visit Drinksmanship.com for more details.

Favorite Blogs:

Mosaic in Austin
Our cutest pet contest is going on and Julie has been really supportive! It is fantastic when someone cares enough to really get out there and tell their residents about the blog.

The Plaza Museum District in Houston
This blog is one of the newer ones to go live! Mandy at the property is awesome and so excited about the product. Next Monday we are starting the cutest pet contest and she is giving the cutest pet friendly basket you have ever seen!

Find Kaitlin on Twitter!

Come back regularly to meet some of our employees working on the blogs!

Kevin

I grew up in Dunwoody, Georgia and lived in the same house with my parents and my brother for 16 years. During high school, I focused my time and energy into basketball, football, and tinkered with cars; a fairly normal teenage boy growing up in the suburbs of Atlanta. I ended up at a small public liberal arts college, Georgia College & State University, where I was brought in early to be an English major. It was probably a week into classes when I switched over to be a business major (I wanted to be in real estate). A year after that, I switched again to the degree I have now, a BAS in Studio Art concentrating on Digital Media with a minor in photography. I spend most of my time eating, working out, exploring Atlanta, hanging out with friends, taking photos for people, and teaching my mom how to blog.

My favorite accounts are my new account, The Juliana up in Hoboken, New Jersey (Shout out to Mudar and Dolores), and The Estates in Hull, MA.

I’ve had a great time working with Mudar and Dolores from The Juliana. They are constantly taking part in the accounts, whether it’s Mudar blogging from some cool coffee shop, or Dolores making a wall post. The account just went live, so I can’t wait to watch it grow more and more. Fan The Juliana at http://fb.me/TheJuliana

The Estates are just really cool. It’s a community that I would love to live in because it’s right ON the coast of MA. I love to go sailing, so every time I do maintenance on their Facebook I think about how much I wish I was there on a boat. Check out The Estates from Hull, MA at http://fb.me/TheEstates

Kevin can be found on Twitter as @KevinSherpa.

Gentlemen, I know you’ve got things like football on your mind.  But listen to me well:  You do not want to wait until Saturday to shop for your significant other.  It’s going to be a madhouse, because most guys will forget and be desperate to find something before Sunday.  Like Black Friday after Thanksgiving, but for men.  Not a pretty sight.

So here are a few suggestions for you. Burberry for upscale clothing and gifts.  One Park Place for personalized gifts.  The Bonanza General Store, the self-proclaimed World’s Largest Gift Store.  And, Vosges Haut-Chocolat, because if all else fails, chocolate remains the way to a woman’s heart.

	Burberry The Shoppes at The Palazzo 3325 Las Vegas Blvd South (702) 382-1911
	One Park Place 3053 West Craig Rd. Suite E-157 (702) 540-5586
	Bonanza General Store 2400 Las Vegas Blvd South (702) 384-0005
	Vosges Haut-Chocolat Forum Shops at Caesars 3500 Las Vegas Blvd South (702) 836-9866

Good luck with your shopping.  And if you’ve got some good suggestions for last minute shoppers, men or women, do share.  Everyone can use a little help when it comes to Valentines day.  Leave us a comment and tell us what you think!

St. Andrews luxury apartment homes is located in Augusta, Georgia and offers all the charm of a countryside estate – well within reach of the city. Elegant interiors. Uncompromising quality. Luxurious amenities. Set in a convenient neighborhood offering a tranquil setting.

Whether you prefer relaxing by the pool or enjoying a strenuous workout in our state of the art fitness center, St. Andrews offers a range of wonderfully equipped amenities set amid a pristine wooded countryside.

St. Andrews invites you to check out their new blog , become a Fan on Facebook and Follow them on Twitter.

At CommunitySherpa we have a highly developed perspective on the role of social media in the marketing chain.

We believe that the core of a powerful social media program is Content. The development of targeted content that is consistent with your Brand Story, which is distributed through social media platforms that align with your customers and prospects preferences, will generate measurable results in your business performance.

Social media marketing requires expertise and management, and at CommunitySherpa our mission is to do the heavy lifting associated with building content and managing communities. This work doesn’t remove your marketing team from the process: it enhances your resources and focuses your team on the work of identifying and engaging high-quality prospects and your existing customers.

Our Chairman & CEO, Dan McCarthy, has been an early adopter of social media in marketing. In his personal blog, ViralHousingFix, Dan has shared many of his observations about the application of social media to marketing and has articulated some foundation principles.

To better understand our approach to social media marketing and to gain additional perspective, you may want to read the following of Dan’s posts:

Migrating a brand strategy from marketing to content: A case study

My two principals of social media marketing

Online content isn’t just consumed…it can be transformed

An organizational shift to social media: Project Massive Network

Social media can be a marketing platform: It starts with brand evangelism

CommunitySherpa is a service of Network Communications, Inc., the publisher of Apartment Finder.

To learn more about Network Communications, Inc. (NCI), click on this link: www.nci.com.

For a quick summary, here is the boilerplate from our press releases:

Network Communications, Inc. is the leading publisher of printed and online real estate information in North America. The company was acquired by Court Square Capital Partners in January of 2005. Its magazines are read by over 12 million readers in over 500 markets and deliver more than one million leads to advertisers each month. Network Communications’ assets, The Real Estate Book, Apartment Finder / Blue Book, Mature Living Choices, Black’s Guide, New Home Finder, Unique Homes, Kansas City Homes & Gardens, Atlanta Homes & Lifestyles, Atlanta Home Improvement, At Home In Arkansas, Relocating in Las Vegas, Colorado Homes & Lifestyles, St. Louis Homes & Lifestyles, Seattle Homes & Lifestyles, and Mountain Living, include publications that millions of readers around the country turn to when looking for the latest information about the real estate and home design markets.

In the past five years, Apartment Finder has expanded its presence in print and online. It is the preferred choice for consumers, as well as a key resource that thousands of advertisers rely on for the most qualified leads in the industry. In addition to Apartment Finder, Apartment Magazine and Apartment Blue Book publications, NCI operates ApartmentFinder.com, the #1 consumer-preferred website with state-of-the-art searching,  mapping and social media features for apartment renters.

In order to learn about the use of social media in the multi-family industry, here are some good starting points:

Information Resources

Multi-Family Insiders http://www.multifamilyinsiders.com/
Groundswell http://www.forrester.com/Groundswell/profile_tool.html
Forrester Research http://www.forrester.com

M Brewer group http://mbrewergroup.com/

NAA Blog http://www.naahq.org/blog/default.aspx

 

Early Adopters of Social Media Marketing

Urbane Apartments http://www.urbaneapts.com

Bell Partners http://www.facebook.com/pages/Greensboro-NC/Bell-Partners/6481169882

CommunitySherpa provides the following services for an affordable, fixed monthly fee:

Content Management

Hosting and maintenance of an individual blog for your community, or a network of blogs for the communities in your portfolio;

• Ongoing content creation and management
• Relevant local and lifestyle content targeted to your residents
• Community news and information
• Photographs of community events and residents
• Interactive content
• Information about special renewal and referral incentives
• Interactive Community bulletin board

Social Network Development Maintenance

• Creation of social identities for your community or portfolio on Facebook and Twitter
• Development and publishing of content for your social identities
• Recruiting and development of your social network connections among your residents and prospects
• Monitoring of your social network activity for problematic or sensitive issues and dialogue

Internet Tool Development Search Engine Optimization

• Periodic enhancement and upgrade of social media tools, such as blog platforms, interactive widgets, etc.
• Analysis and refinement of Search Engine Optimization performance of your Community blog in search engines such as Google in order to increase traffic and raise Community profile.

Reporting & Analytics

Monthly reporting and analysis will include:

• Measure how many members of your network interacted with your program
• Report on traffic and leads
• Measure referral activity
• Measure retention among residents who are network participants vs. non-participants.

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